![\"Sky](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4LIOJUE_SKYCITY_jpg.jpeg\")
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\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Marika Khabazi\n<\/p>\n
A so-far, unnamed United States-funded group is leading a class action lawsuit against SkyCity.com’s Malta-based online gambling platform, which has been operating since 2020.<\/p>\n
In a statement to the market, casino operator SkyCity said the class action group was “seeking to test the lawfulness of the online gaming operations” operated by Europe-based Silvereye on behalf of SkyCity’s Malta subsidiary.<\/p>\n
The class action is over gambling monies lost to SkyCity Online between February 2020 and February 2026.<\/p>\n
SkyCity set up the Malta operations after it began losing potential earnings<\/a> to overseas online operators who had been marketing gambling services to New Zealand residents<\/a>.<\/p>\n SkyCity believed the Malta operation would allow it to legally operate a platform using the SkyCity brand, while still complying with New Zealand laws, including tax regulations and host responsibility rules which applied in New Zealand.<\/p>\n RNZ understands that belief is what was being tested by the class action group, who were understood to be seeking refunds for every New Zealand gambler who ever lost a bet on the Malta-based SkyCity platform, on the premise that the online platform was illegal.<\/p>\n SkyCity said it denied any such liability and would actively defend the proceedings.<\/p>\n The company said it was still reviewing the legal action and would make no further comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: RNZ \/ Marika Khabazi A so-far, unnamed United States-funded group is leading a class action lawsuit against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-316223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}